Brunson Chapel United Methodist Church

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Brunson Chapel United Methodist Church All are welcome to come worship with us. Worship Service is at 9:00 on Sunday morning followed by Sunday School at 10:15.

Feel free to reach out to our Pastor Jesse Guffin at [email protected]

More Than Just Showing Up In Matthew 22:1–14, Jesus tells the story of a king who invites people to a wedding feast. The...
10/14/2026

More Than Just Showing Up

In Matthew 22:1–14, Jesus tells the story of a king who invites people to a wedding feast. The invitation goes out to everyone, both good and bad, and the banquet hall is filled with guests. But then Jesus tells us about one man who arrives without wearing a wedding garment. He has accepted the invitation and made it into the banquet, yet he is thrown out.

It is a difficult part of the story, and it reminds us of something important: accepting the invitation is only the beginning.

God’s grace is freely offered to us. We don’t earn God’s love, and we don’t have to make ourselves perfect before coming to the table. God invites us just as we are. But God’s grace also calls us to be changed by the love we receive.

It’s possible to show up at church every Sunday, call ourselves Christians, know the right words, and still never allow Jesus to change the way we live. We can sing about love while refusing to love our neighbors. We can talk about forgiveness while holding tightly to resentment. We can claim to follow Christ while ignoring the people who need our compassion, kindness, and help.

The man in the parable challenges us to ask ourselves: Have I simply accepted the invitation, or am I allowing that invitation to transform me?

Being a Christian doesn’t mean we never fail. We all fall short, make mistakes, and need God’s forgiveness. The question isn’t whether we are perfect; it’s whether we are willing to let Christ keep working in us. Are we growing in love? Are we becoming more compassionate? Are we seeking justice, showing mercy, forgiving others, and caring for those the world overlooks?

We don’t live like Christ to earn our place at the table. We seek to live like Christ because we have been invited to the table.

Our faith should be more than a name we claim or a building we enter on Sunday morning. It should be seen in how we treat people on Monday, how we respond to those who disagree with us, and how we care for those who have nothing to offer us in return.

So this week, let’s not settle for simply showing up. Let’s put on the garments of Christ and allow God’s love to shape our hearts, our choices, and our actions.

Because there is more to following Jesus than accepting the invitation. We are called to live like we belong to the Kingdom. ❤️🙏

Don’t forget! We had to reschedule our Blessing of Animals service to this coming Sunday! Bring out your beloved animals...
10/13/2026

Don’t forget! We had to reschedule our Blessing of Animals service to this coming Sunday! Bring out your beloved animals whether they are furry, scaley, or anything else we celebrate all of Gods creation!

It’ll be held at Brantley UMC!

🍂 You’re Invited! Join Us for Worship This Sunday! ⛪What does it mean to accept an invitation? Is it enough simply to sh...
10/10/2026

🍂 You’re Invited! Join Us for Worship This Sunday! ⛪

What does it mean to accept an invitation? Is it enough simply to show up, or does accepting that invitation call us to something more?

This Sunday, we’ll explore Jesus’ parable of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22:1–14 and consider what it means to accept God’s invitation and truly live as people of God’s Kingdom. God invites us to the table, but that invitation is about more than just showing up. It’s about allowing God’s love to transform our hearts and shape how we live, love, and serve others.

Come join us as we worship together, grow in faith, and discover what it means to live out the invitation God has given us!

📍 Brunson Chapel UMC — 9:00 AM

There’s a place for you, and we would love to see you there! ❤️

On Wednesday night we talked about Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac! And then the students got a really cool opportunity to lea...
10/09/2026

On Wednesday night we talked about Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac! And then the students got a really cool opportunity to learn about and play the harp thanks to Ms. Theresa! As I told them, Brother Jesse is 36 and I had never gotten to play a harp until now! Thankful we get to do this for our Young Disciples!

Don’t forget that we have Youth and SCUBA tonight!!
10/07/2026

Don’t forget that we have Youth and SCUBA tonight!!

One of the things that has stayed with me from Sunday’s Gospel is the reminder that we are temporary caretakers.In Jesus...
10/07/2026

One of the things that has stayed with me from Sunday’s Gospel is the reminder that we are temporary caretakers.

In Jesus’ parable of the vineyard, the vineyard belongs to the landowner. The tenants are entrusted with caring for it, but they are never the owners. I think that is an important reminder for us, because we can sometimes begin to think that the things in our lives belong completely to us; our time, our resources, our relationships, our church, our abilities, and even the opportunities God has placed before us. But we are just temporary caretakers. What we have is something God has entrusted to us for a short time.

And honestly there’s actually a great deal of freedom in remembering that. Being temporary caretakers means we don’t have to be afraid of the future, because the future ultimately belongs to God.

We don’t have to fix everything. We don’t have to know exactly what the church will look like ten years from now. We don’t have to carry the entire vineyard on our shoulders. Our responsibility is simply to be faithful with what God has placed in our hands today.

So the question isn’t simply, “What do I have?” The better question is, “What am I doing with what God has entrusted to me?”

Jesus tells us that the vineyard should produce fruit. And the fruit of God’s kingdom is not simply about what we say we believe. It shows up in the way we live: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It also looks like forgiveness when we have been hurt, generosity when we could keep everything for ourselves, compassion for someone who is struggling, welcome for someone who feels like an outsider, justice for someone who has been overlooked, and service to those around us. That is kingdom work. That is the fruit God calls us to bear.

The truth is, none of us will be here forever. We are temporary caretakers of the lives, relationships, churches, communities, and resources God has placed in our hands. One day, we will hand them on to someone else. And that is okay. The future isn’t ours to control; it’s God’s. Our calling is to faithfully do the kingdom’s work today. To love, to serve, to forgive, to welcome, to give, to seek justice, to show compassion, and to bear good fruit.

The vineyard belongs to God. The future belongs to God. Our job is to faithfully tend the vineyard while we have the privilege of being here. So let’s do that. Let’s leave fear behind and just focus on building the Kingdom and bearing fruit. Or in the words of John Wesley, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

God Bless,
Brother Jesse Guffin

Due to problematic weather we are rescheduling Blessing of the Animals to October 18th!
10/04/2026

Due to problematic weather we are rescheduling Blessing of the Animals to October 18th!

🍇 This Sunday at Brunson Chapel UMC 🍇This Sunday, we’ll gather around the Lord’s Table as we celebrate World Communion S...
10/03/2026

🍇 This Sunday at Brunson Chapel UMC 🍇

This Sunday, we’ll gather around the Lord’s Table as we celebrate World Communion Sunday where we will be joining Christians around the world in remembering that, even with our differences, we are one body in Christ.

Our Scripture from Matthew 21:33–46 tells the story of the vineyard and reminds us that everything we have is ultimately entrusted to us by God. What will we do with what God has given us? How will we live as faithful stewards of God’s gifts and God’s Kingdom?

Come worship with us, share in Communion, and be reminded that Christ is the cornerstone upon which we build our lives.

📍 Brunson Chapel UMC — 9:00 AM

🐾 Then at 3:00 PM, join us at Brantley UMC for our Blessing of the Animals service! Bring your pets (or a photo of a beloved pet) as we give thanks for the animals who bring joy, companionship, and so much love into our lives.

Whether you’ve worshiped with us many times or you’re looking for a church family, you are welcome at the table. We hope to see you Sunday! ❤️

In Matthew 21, Jesus tells a simple story about two sons.A father asks his first son to go work in the vineyard. The son...
09/30/2026

In Matthew 21, Jesus tells a simple story about two sons.

A father asks his first son to go work in the vineyard. The son says no, but later changes his mind and goes. The father asks the second son, and he says yes but he never goes. Then Jesus asks a simple question: “Which of the two did the will of his father?” The answer seems obvious. The first son.

But then Jesus says something that would have shocked the religious leaders who were listening: “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.” Now that’s a weird thing to hear right?

These were the people that the religious leaders and society had already decided were sinners. People who, in their minds, were on the outside. Yet Jesus says that these very people were responding to God’s call while the religious leaders were refusing to believe and follow him.

Now, to be clear, Jesus wasn’t saying that what the tax collectors and prostitutes had done was good or that their past didn’t matter. He was pointing to something deeper: they heard God’s call, they believed, and they were willing to change the direction of their lives.

Meanwhile, the religious leaders knew the Scriptures. They knew the religious language. They knew how to say the right things. But when Jesus came calling, they weren’t willing to follow.

And that is where this story becomes uncomfortable for all of us. Because saying all the right things is easy. We can say we love Jesus. We can come to church. We can sing the hymns. We can know the Bible. We can call ourselves Christians. But Jesus asks us a different question: What are we doing with what we say we believe?

Following Christ means more than saying yes to Jesus. It means actually getting up and following him. It means loving the people Jesus tells us to love. It means forgiving when we’d rather hold onto anger. It means serving when we’d rather be served. It means welcoming people we might be tempted to exclude. It means being willing to change when Jesus shows us that we are headed in the wrong direction. And if we’re honest with ourselves, that’s not an easy thing to do.

The good news in this story is that there is grace even for the person who initially says no. The first son changed his mind. And maybe that’s part of the invitation for us this week. If there is something Jesus has been asking us to do and we’ve been saying no, or simply putting it off, we can still change direction.

Because following Jesus isn’t about having said the right thing yesterday. It’s about being willing to follow him today.

So this week, let’s not just ask, “What do I say I believe?” Let’s ask: “What is Jesus asking me to do, and am I actually willing to do it?”

Tomorrow, we will hear a story about two sons.One says “yes,” but never goes. The other says “no,” but eventually change...
09/26/2026

Tomorrow, we will hear a story about two sons.

One says “yes,” but never goes. The other says “no,” but eventually changes his mind and does what his father asked.

It’s a simple story, but Jesus asks us to wrestle with a deeper question: Is what we say we believe reflected in the way we actually live?

It’s easy for us to say yes, it’s what we’ve been trained to do. It’s harder to follow through. Join us tomorrow as we worship and wrestle this text together in Grace and hear Jesus’ words from Matthew 21:23–32 in a message titled “When Saying Yes Isn’t Enough.”

Come as you are. Come ready to worship. Come ready to listen. And maybe, come ready to ask ourselves what God is asking us to do, not just what we are willing to say.

Brunson Chapel UMC — 9:00 AM

We’d love to have you with us!

Address

6087 Old Brantley Luverne Road
Brantley, AL
36009

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